Chapter 3

I had no idea when she had come to stand at the door, her eyes glued onto my phone screen.

Chloe clearly sensed the tension in the air.

"Um, you two talk it out."

She excused herself under the pretense of printing documents and quickly stepped away.

Rachel walked over.

"Nicole, what's the meaning of this?"

I turned the log page toward her.

"Nineteen items.

"Why are they all addressed under my name?"

She only offered it a passing glance.

"Didn't I already explain it to you? It's just for convenience."

"Convenience for what?"

Impatience flared across her face.

"Why are you suddenly making such a fuss about this?

"You signed for so many packages before without a problem. Why make a fuss over my camera now?

"If you feel that my buying something expensive rubbed you the wrong way, just say it straight."

I could hardly believe my own ears.

"You think I'm jealous of you?"

"I didn't say that."

She denied it in her reply, but the look in her eyes meant exactly that.

I stared at her.

"Don't use my name ever again.

"For any orders already placed but not yet shipped, change every single one of them."

Earlier, I'd submitted a report through the platform's help center.

At four that afternoon, a customer service representative called me back.

The caller identified themselves as customer service from a certain e-commerce platform.

"Ms. Sullivan, may I ask if your shipping information has been used by someone else on a long-term basis?"

My heart tightened.

"Yes."

I briefly explained the situation to them.

The representative asked me to provide the relevant tracking numbers.

However, since those orders were not purchased through my account, I didn't have the information with me.

The representative said:

"Under these circumstances, we can't disclose another customer's order details to you.

"However, we can log your report that someone has been using your name and delivery details without your consent.

"If disputes arise in the future, we will keep a record of your complaint today."

I immediately asked:

"Can you give me the ticket reference number?"

The representative read off a string of numbers.

I noted it down and requested the processing status to be sent to my mobile phone.

After hanging up the phone, I let out a slight sigh of relief for the very first time.

At least I had acted first and left some proof.

When it was time to leave work that evening, Rachel seemed to have already left.

The camera from this morning sat on her desk.

The package had been opened.

The camera was there on full display.

Someone passing by murmured with envy: "So nice."

I didn't spare it a second glance.

Yet just as I reached the elevator entrance, floating comments suddenly sprouted out again.

"She will apply for a post-sales return tonight."

"The reason: scratches on the camera body upon unboxing, suspected resold item."

"In fact, she's replaced parts of the new camera with scratched ones from her old camera."

My feet came to a dead halt.

Rachel's voice rang out from behind me.

She hadn't left—she was hiding inside the stairwell taking a call.

"Don't worry.

"Her name is still on the shipping label. I've signed for it myself, but they'll see her name first.

"Even if the platform investigates, they will look into her first."

The blood in my entire body went cold instantly.

Instead of rushing over to confront her, I turned on my phone's voice recorder.

Rachel's voice came through the stairwell door in intermittent segments.

"I know.

"Didn't the previous few orders turn out fine anyway?

"It's just signing for a few things.

"Who knew she'd suddenly throw a fit today?"

The person on the other end of the line seemed to say something.

Rachel scoffed.

"She hates dealing with trouble.

"A few sweet words tomorrow and she'll be fine.

"Worst case, I'll just buy her a cup of coffee."

I stood outside the fire door, completely motionless.

We'd known each other for two years. Rachel knew I hated conflict.

She knew that as long as it wasn't a matter of fundamental principle, I would usually rather do a bit extra myself than make a fuss.

As it turned out, to her, that wasn't being easygoing.

It was being an easy target.

I saved the recording.

The next morning, a cup of coffee indeed sat on my desk.

Rachel sat down beside me as if nothing had happened yesterday.

"I was in a bad mood yesterday.

"Don't be mad, mkay?"

I glanced at the coffee.

I didn't touch it.

She lightly nudged my arm with her elbow.

"Eat out tonight, my treat?"

I asked, "Did you return the camera?"

Her eyes instantly flushed red.

"I was nice enough to buy you coffee. Why do you keep interrogating me?

"Is it really that big of a deal, signing for a few packages?

"Do you really have to do this?"